


Change

by saracenknows



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2018-04-15 06:52:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4597038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saracenknows/pseuds/saracenknows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daryl had always assumed his life would stay pretty much the same. Same old shit-hole of a house, same woods to hunt in, same crossbow, same jibes from Merle.<br/>And then the whole planet went to shit and Daryl Dixon was moving up in the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Change

Daryl had always assumed that his life would stay pretty much the same. Same old shit-hole of a house, same woods to hunt in, same crossbow, same jibes from Merle. 

It was a pattern, a cycle he could never escape from. Roam around Georgia with Merle until he fucked up and did something stupid enough to land himself another stint in jail. Then Daryl would get a crappy job for a while until his brother had done his time and then they'd start again, just a couple of no-good redneck drifters.

Daryl's life had been mapped out for him since the day he was born. He was never meant for greatness: he was destined to drop out of high school, to spend half his life hunting in the woods and the other half drinking in bars. There were a few variables in his life, but none of it really mattered. Maybe he'd go to jail, maybe he'd become a junkie, maybe he'd find a woman and settle down. None of it mattered, none of it made any difference. Daryl Dixon was destined to spend his whole damned life drifting around Georgia. 

And then the whole planet went to shit and Daryl Dixon was moving up in the world. 

Suddenly he was needed, suddenly he was relied on, suddenly he was important. Daryl Dixon could find food and kill walkers, and suddenly he was one of the most desirable companions in the world. 

But what was weird, what Daryl really didn't understand was that, after a while, it became about more than that. They didn't just want him there because he was useful, they wanted him there because they cared about him. 

Rick didn't just ask for advice on tactical outings, now he asked him about everything. He made him a member of the council because he valued his opinion so much. And Daryl was completely overwhelmed, because nobody had ever even listened to him before, and now he was trusted to make decisions on behalf of an entire community, to speak with the fate of hundreds of lives resting on his tongue. 

And they cared. They honest to God, really truly cared. They loved him, and it was something so foreign to him that Daryl didn't know how to deal with it. Glenn would go out on a run that Daryl was better suited for because “you've done enough, man.” Carol would bring him food without him asking for it and sit there with him just talking. Rick would leave Judith with him not because he needed to but because he knew, somehow, that Daryl needed this, needed a reminder of the good he had done and the lives he had saved. 

It was all so completely, entirely bizarre.

And it was amazing.


End file.
